On Saturday, August 15, 2026, indigenes and residents of Osun State go to the polls to elect the next occupant of the Abere Government House. The race has been undulating, sometimes showcasing a three-horse race and then dovetailing into a two-horse race. Each contender has been blowing hot about his readiness to carry the day in a process that is already tainted by violence and harassment. General Editor Politics, TAIWO ADISA, who was recently in the state, reports the atmosphere heralding the all-important polls.
Contents
Why the election is strategic to Accord, APC
The last-minute rush for alliances by Accord, APC
The tense moments so far generated around the August 15, 2026, governorship election in Osun State have been unprecedented in recent years. Readers of the nation’s contemporary political history would probably compare the tension and the intensity to the build-up to the 2011 election, when former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and General Muhammadu Buhari were quoted to have issued threats against the government of President Goodluck Jonathan. And especially, in 2012, when Buhari made the infamous statement claiming that if what happened in 2011(alleged rigging) was to repeat itself in 2015, “by the grace of God the dog and the baboon would all be soaked in blood.”
The killings, arrests, intimidations and threats of violence in Osun have been real, rather than imagined, as the police and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) appear to jump into the political arena with advertised arrests and seizure of the state’s account. Though the government of Governor Ademola Adeleke, who is flying the flag of the Accord political party, has been loud enough about complaints indicative of a state under siege, the main challenger, the All Progressives Congress (APC), whose candidate is Asiwaju Munirdeen Bola Oyebamiji, has also been making claims to justify the security crackdown. APC leaders have said that they were at the receiving end in 2022 when they claimed that no fewer than 25 of their members were attacked, killed or maimed in the build-up to the election.
Why the election is strategic to Accord, APC
For the All Progressives Congress (APC), the ruling party at the national level, a loss at the final off-season election before the general election may create a negative optics for the party that is pushing for a complete takeover of the South West zone of the country. For the Accord, led by Adeleke, one good turn deserves another. He believes his quality service is about to be rewarded by the workers and the people of the state, whom he said had suffered so much under APC’s 12-year leadership of the state. The two frontrunner parties have been exchanging claims and counterclaims in recent weeks.
One of the claims coming from the APC is that infrastructure development in the state is not only substandard, but they are also concentrated in the two Ede local governments.
The state government has, however, refuted the claim, stating that projects in Osun State are handled by experienced, COREN-certified engineers. The projects are conceived and executed with global best practices that are even validated by a technical mission of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, the state said, adding that the projects are also spread across the three senatorial districts and the major towns in the state. Officials of the state have also stated that companies engaged to handle projects must first cross the hurdle of due process.
Another allegation hanging on the neck of the Adeleke administration is that it moved the Ido Osun Airport to Ede for political vendetta. Officials, however, said that the administration of former Governor Gboyega Oyetola had handed over the Ido Osun Airport to the Nigerian Airforce for the establishment of an aviation city and training centre.
Responding specifically to what was described as an ‘ Edenisation agenda’, an indication that most projects in the state are sited in Ede, Adeleke’s home town, the government officials said it could only be fake news.
“The governor launched the Osun Infra Agenda in December 2022. The agenda covers all local governments with multi-sectoral projects. Again in December 2023, the governor launched the second phase of the infra agenda, which targeted Ila Orangun, Iwo, Ilesa, Ede and Ile Ife. Today, all those mega projects are completed and are being commissioned,” an official said.
The APC had also accused the Adeleke administration of sacking workers employed by the Oyetola administration, while also imposing high fees on students of the Ilesa University. Responding to these allegations, the administration stated that the workers were employed after Oyetola lost the 2022 election and that the employment amounted to booby traps for the incoming government. On the high fees charged by Ilesha University, government officials said: “Only Medical and Law students pay higher fees, and this is even cheaper than what students in other state universities pay.”
The last-minute rush for alliances by Accord, APC
While each of the main contending parties has presented a picture of a formidable party before now, even the African Democratic Congress (ADC) is also pushing its weight, the last-minute rush for allies is showcasing that the leaders appear to know their parties’ true strengths and weaknesses. Alliances are being courted by the APC leaders, with the APC also seeking to locate its lost souls, while the Accord is seeking to consolidate with new converts and those believed to be covertly working for its victory.
It promises to be interesting how the contest would pan out; suffice to say that the threat of violence is already casting a slur on the ability of the election management system in the country to deliver a peaceful poll. With the deployment of 15,000 policemen and more than 10,000 officials of the NSCDC, it is expected that peace would reign and, with
a peaceful poll, a true winner would emerge.
